Roku to shed real estate holdings following layoffs

San Jose-based Roku will jettison 200 workers and sublease unoccupied office buildings as a cost-cutting move.

The streaming tech firm announced its second round of layoffs and plans to exit and sublease unspecified office facilities it doesn’t occupy at a number of undisclosed locations, the San Francisco Business Times reported, citing a regulatory filing.

The latest measure will result in a charge of between $30 million and $35 million, mostly due to real estate severance costs, the company said. The 6 percent workforce reduction follows 200 layoffs in November.

Most of the costs will be absorbed in the current quarter and the layoffs will be completed by the end of the second quarter.

Roku reported that its net loss more than doubled last year to $498 million despite a 13 percent rise in net revenue to about $3.1 billion. The company has diversified by growing its advertising business and producing original content during declining sales of its streaming boxes.

“We plan to continue to improve our operating expense profile to better manage through the challenging macro environment, while building on our platform’s monetization and engagement tools and partnerships,” the company said in a letter to shareholders last month. 

Roku went public in 2017 at a price of $14 a share. It closed Thursday at $61.62.

 — Dana Bartholomew